Workers in Kenya will join the rest of the World in celebration of Labour Day with all having the hope for a better working conditions.
Workers in Kenya will have something to smile about if the handsome proposal sails through.
Labour Day celebrations will be held against the backdrop of heightened concerns over a sagging economy and run-away inflation.
Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) secretary general Francis Atwoli has set the ball rolling, with a demand of a 15 per cent minimum wage increment.
Speaking during Cotu’s pre-Labour Day Celebrations at St Stephen’s ACK Church on Jogoo Road, Nairobi, he said workers are pushing for a 15 per cent general wage increase in exchange for remittance of the 1.5 per cent housing levy from their salaries.
Although the Economic Survey report, 2019, has showed that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 6.3 per cent in 2018 up from 4.7 per cent in 2017, Kenyans said they are yet to feel the impact of the performance.
Questions have emerged on why the seemingly stable economic growth reported over the years does not reflect on the wealth of most citizens.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics findings are that three-quarters of Kenyans in the formal sector earn below Sh50,000, representing 1.9 million people as of 2017.
This includes those at the bottom wage bracket, earning below Sh20,000 a month, mainly constituting house servants, drivers, secretaries and low-ranking teachers and police officers.
The earnings, compounded by inflation which has averaged at 9.61 per cent since 2005, could inform the skepticism about reported economic growth.
Last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a five per cent rise in minimum wage, which came amidst calls to resolve several strikes called by different sectors.
Do you think President Uhuru Kenyatta will raise it to 15% this time round?